Devils owner short, needs $20M more

If Rags fans want to brag that they are more numerous and that their owner is wealthier (even if he's a spoiled, do-nothing, cokehead), more power to them. It's nice that there are a lot of them who can gather in large groups to talk about '94 being the greatest event in the history of mankind. In the meantime, the bankrupt Devils (and Coyotes for that matter) will get on with the business of winning hockey games.

Couldn't have said it any better than that. They just make moves just for the sake of grabbing headlines. Their team was so close to making it to the SCF for the first time in two decades and what do they do? They trade two key cogs and a good prospect for Rick Nash. I can't wait to see him try to play defense and block shots.

Couldn't have said it any better than that. They just make moves just for the sake of grabbing headlines. Their team was so close to making it to the SCF for the first time in two decades and what do they do? They trade two key cogs and a good prospect for Rick Nash. I can't wait to see him try to play defense and block shots.

But I digress.....

You are the first person I have heard consider Dubinsky and Anisimov to be key cogs.

But by and large Rags fans can talk sh!t all day about how rich their team is, how much more media attention it gets (being in the middle of NYC certainly makes it easier) and how the hockey world reached its pinnacle in 1994 all they want. I like my 3 cups and far more success on the ice much better.

I also wonder which player they will retire this year from the 94 team. My bet is Jeff Beukeboom.

You are the first person I have heard consider Dubinsky and Anisimov to be key cogs.

But by and large Rags fans can talk sh!t all day about how rich their team is, how much more media attention it gets (being in the middle of NYC certainly makes it easier) and how the hockey world reached its pinnacle in 1994 all they want. I like my 3 cups and far more success on the ice much better.

I also wonder which player they will retire this year from the 94 team. My bet is Jeff Beukeboom.

Dubinsky and Anisimov were key role players for the Rangers. Thats like us losing Zubrus and Clarkson. Losing two young 35-55 point players is not a good thing if Nash does not play well. It also hurts their depth. Their bottom six is Halpern, Pyatt, Rupp, Asham, Boyle, Hagelin. Dubinsky was a pain in the butt to play against, he is a great possession player.

You are the first person I have heard consider Dubinsky and Anisimov to be key cogs.

But by and large Rags fans can talk sh!t all day about how rich their team is, how much more media attention it gets (being in the middle of NYC certainly makes it easier) and how the hockey world reached its pinnacle in 1994 all they want. I like my 3 cups and far more success on the ice much better.

I also wonder which player they will retire this year from the 94 team. My bet is Jeff Beukeboom.

You could see the difference when Dubinsky was in the lineup. I don't think it's a coincidence they started playing better. Sure you could argue they were more desperate, but I think they fed off his energy. Both are very good defensively and more importantly, don't mind blocking shots

You could see the difference when Dubinsky was in the lineup. I don't think it's a coincidence they started playing better. Sure you could argue they were more desperate, but I think they fed off his energy. Both are very good defensively and more importantly, don't mind blocking shots

Dubinsky was a guy who was paid like he was a 1st or 2nd line player but ended up playing on the 3rd and 4th for most of the past season. He never reached his potential or maybe he did and was judged terribly early on. Either way his contract was ugly.

Anisimov was never really a key guy. More like a 3rd line player that happened to get shuffled around as Torts fooled around with his lines and played often on the 1st and 2nd line when he shouldn't have been there.

Dubinsky and Anisimov were key role players for the Rangers. Thats like us losing Zubrus and Clarkson. Losing two young 35-55 point players is not a good thing if Nash does not play well. It also hurts their depth. Their bottom six is Halpern, Pyatt, Rupp, Asham, Boyle, Hagelin. Dubinsky was a pain in the butt to play against, he is a great possession player.

IDK about you but their bottom 6 looks pretty decent to me. If one of our players gets hurt of the CBGB line doesn't repeat what they did this past playoff run the Devils could be in a world of trouble.

IDK about you but their bottom 6 looks pretty decent to me. If one of our players gets hurt of the CBGB line doesn't repeat what they did this past playoff run the Devils could be in a world of trouble.

I just do not see the Rangers being that much better than they were last year...which was still very good. The losses of Anisimov, Dubinsky, Prust, and Fedotenko are huge. Even the loss of Mitchell is big because he played Tortorellas system to a T. I just do not see their bottom six meshing well together but we have to wait and see.

And we must all remember how many things went the Rangers way last year, should be interesting to see if they can duplicate that again.

I just do not see the Rangers being that much better than they were last year...which was still very good. The losses of Anisimov, Dubinsky, Prust, and Fedotenko are huge. Even the loss of Mitchell is big because he played Tortorellas system to a T. I just do not see their bottom six meshing well together but we have to wait and see.

And we must all remember how many things went the Rangers way last year, should be interesting to see if they can duplicate that again.

Anisimov is a crapshoot, Dubinsky was always overrated in my book, and Fedo and Prust were not even close to being hugely important for them.

I expect them to do as well as they did last year. Maybe a slight drop off but not much at all.

DM84- Do you think it's possible that Dubinsky just had an off year? Would it have been fair to call Kovy a 60 pt player after the abortion that was 10-11? I think everyone knows what Dubinsky brings: grit, speed and a scoring touch. He's perfect for that system and I for one am glad hes off that team. It seemed like he was Clarkson's kryptonite.

As for Anisimov, I think he has the potential to become a solid 2nd line center. Has a good blend of size and skill.

And to top it all off I don't think Nash is all that good. But hey, I'm incredibly biased

DM84- Do you think it's possible that Dubinsky just had an off year? Would it have been fair to call Kovy a 60 pt player after the abortion that was 10-11? I think everyone knows what Dubinsky brings: grit, speed and a scoring touch. He's perfect for that system and I for one am glad hes off that team. It seemed like he was Clarkson's kryptonite.

As for Anisimov, I think he has the potential to become a solid 2nd line center. Has a good blend of size and skill.

And to top it all off I don't think Nash is all that good. But hey, I'm incredibly biased

Dubinsky never really had an "on" year either. He was a 3rd, maybe 2nd line center that was being paid 1st line center money.

Also Clarkson played a lot of players that would seem to be his kryptonite as well. It speaks more about Clarkson than any of those players. Dubinsky, Avery, half the Flyers, etc...

Anisimov was alright and probably a bigger blow to the Rags than losing Dubinsky IMO. His contract at least was pretty good for them but Columbus needed another NHL ready player in that trade.

You guys are worse than Cory Booker. Support JVB and have some faith that he will come through!

JVB is despised by the NHL. He is despised by his partners. He has done everything with leveraged money earned 10 years ago. Trying to cobble money from people to stay his execution another couple of years is counter productive. This is Wilpon-esque but to a worse degree.

I believe the league has owners lined up ready to come in and take the team once JVB is forced out.

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“They’re the ones that makes it happen,” Lemaire said. “It’s not us. It’s not me. It’s not the other guy. It’s not the guy before. It’s not the guy after. It’s them. And they have to take care of business.”
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"I guess I just miss my friend" (#28)

i am afraid you will have to take my word on this and you can choose to or not. I am not asking for a flame war or anything like that. i think you know and others will tell you that I don't pull these things out of my ass.

the real reason they were so pissed about the kovalchuk contract wasn't because of the cap circumvention (although that didn't help). it was that they knew HE couldn't afford to pay it. he has leveraged just about everything he can to continue his ownership of this team.

he is not financially stable and, at times, may have used the team as his own piggy bank to continue to lead his wall street level life while his wealth - which much of was paper wealth in the form of lehman stock - has plummeted.

the league doesn't need ownership like this and bankruptcy is a huge black eye on the NHL. he's almost certainly headed that way. he could have gotten out without that had he not insisted on trying to keep his majority ownership even though he didn't have the money to justify it.

_________________________________________________________________
“They’re the ones that makes it happen,” Lemaire said. “It’s not us. It’s not me. It’s not the other guy. It’s not the guy before. It’s not the guy after. It’s them. And they have to take care of business.”
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"I guess I just miss my friend" (#28)

i am afraid you will have to take my word on this and you can choose to or not. I am not asking for a flame war or anything like that. i think you know and others will tell you that I don't pull these things out of my ass.

the real reason they were so pissed about the kovalchuk contract wasn't because of the cap circumvention (although that didn't help). it was that they knew HE couldn't afford to pay it. he has leveraged just about everything he can to continue his ownership of this team.

he is not financially stable and, at times, may have used the team as his own piggy bank to continue to lead his wall street level life while his wealth - which much of was paper wealth in the form of lehman stock - has plummeted.

the league doesn't need ownership like this and bankruptcy is a huge black eye on the NHL. he's almost certainly headed that way. he could have gotten out without that had he not insisted on trying to keep his majority ownership even though he didn't have the money to justify it.

Well I appreciate the honesty.. Most people who make statements based on their personal feeling (for lack of a better term) present it as a fact..

I used to be in the know on certain things (nothing like this though).. I retired from the Generals program as I felt I wasn't able to fulfill my duties because of work, and decided someone else who could make the commitment deserved my spot in the group.. Now that I'm out, I can spill the beans that they almost got the Cake Boss his own stand in the Taste of Newark, but for some reason it fell through

Anyway, I mean what you said is certainly plausible although I feel like there are so many bad contracts out there that why would they single out Kovy? I'd be more mad at Philly for trying to force Nashville to not keep Weber, and then I'd be mad at Nashville for taking on a potentially killer contract for them if there's a lockout

Well I appreciate the honesty.. Most people who make statements based on their personal feeling (for lack of a better term) present it as a fact..

I used to be in the know on certain things (nothing like this though).. I retired from the Generals program as I felt I wasn't able to fulfill my duties because of work, and decided someone else who could make the commitment deserved my spot in the group.. Now that I'm out, I can spill the beans that they almost got the Cake Boss his own stand in the Taste of Newark, but for some reason it fell through

Cake Boss! (for the Paul F. Tompkins fans - okay, probably fan)

Anyway, I mean what you said is certainly plausible although I feel like there are so many bad contracts out there that why would they single out Kovy? I'd be more mad at Philly for trying to force Nashville to not keep Weber, and then I'd be mad at Nashville for taking on a potentially killer contract for them if there's a lockout

The point was that the league felt Vanderbeek didn't have the money to pay for Kovalchuk - remember, when the Devils signed Kovalchuk, I think the other owners already wanted out, although they weren't publicly saber-rattling (iirc Gilfillan was at the Kovalchuk press conference) - and the deal is structured very unusually - none of the other long deals are structured like this. And I feel that's because Vanderbeek knew he didn't have the cash to pay Kovalchuk big up front.

i am afraid you will have to take my word on this and you can choose to or not. I am not asking for a flame war or anything like that. i think you know and others will tell you that I don't pull these things out of my ass.

the real reason they were so pissed about the kovalchuk contract wasn't because of the cap circumvention (although that didn't help). it was that they knew HE couldn't afford to pay it. he has leveraged just about everything he can to continue his ownership of this team.

he is not financially stable and, at times, may have used the team as his own piggy bank to continue to lead his wall street level life while his wealth - which much of was paper wealth in the form of lehman stock - has plummeted.

the league doesn't need ownership like this and bankruptcy is a huge black eye on the NHL. he's almost certainly headed that way. he could have gotten out without that had he not insisted on trying to keep his majority ownership even though he didn't have the money to justify it.